Microsoft Office for the Older and Wiser

About the book

My book Microsoft Office 2010 (and 2007) for the Older and Wiser teaches you how to make the most of the market-leading suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and notes management.

The book explains everything in context, through projects which steadily increase in difficulty. As you progress through the book, you will build on the skills used earlier to create more sophisticated documents. If you want to use the book as a reference tool, the index provides direct access to clear explanations which are backed by concrete examples.

The book includes tutorials for Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft OneNote; as well as a bonus chapter offering help with setting up email and sending and receiving emails.

Review

"Microsoft Office for the Older and Wiser is written in a friendly and readable style. It tells you what you need to know to use the software without ever getting too geeky... Rather than explain how Office works in a sterile way, the book looks at practical tasks such as writing a letter, managing your address book and creating a budget. It teaches you the features as you go along so you gain knowledge which you can then apply to other areas. Whether you fall into the 'older and wiser' category or not, this is a well-produced guide that offers a good introduction to day-to-day MS Office use." - PC Utilities Magazine, issue 139, May 2011

What's in the book?

Projects in the book include:

• Writing a letter with Microsoft Word
• Managing your address book with Microsoft Excel
• Creating personalised party invitations using Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel
• Publishing a newsletter using Microsoft Word
• Creating a basic household budget in Microsoft Excel
• Creating a holiday photos slideshow using Microsoft PowerPoint
• Keeping a recipe book in Microsoft OneNote
• Sharing your documents and photos using email

Chapter 1

Learn how to create and print a letter with Word. You'll meet the ribbon interface which is shared across all Office programs, and will learn how to enter, edit and format your text. This chapter begins with how to start Word and finishes with printing your documents.

Learn how to use templates to create posters, how to add images in the right place in your document, and how to use Office's built-in images. You can use the skills you learn in this chapter to make paper dolls, revision flash cards, giant party signs, a calendar and gift certificates too.

Use Word to create a newsletter, including column layouts, picture effects, text on images, round pull quote boxes, and an automatic table of contents. Find out how to manage large documents and acquire the skills to make letterheaded paper, picture books, and spoof newspapers.

Organise your address book using Excel. Learn how to create and edit spreadsheets, sort and search your address book, and filter by name or town. You can reuse these skills to store details of your record collection, plan your garden planting, create to-do lists and checklists and more.

Plan your holiday using Excel. Discover how you can create formulae to work out the total cost based on the length of your stay, convert the currency and add it all up easily. You can use your Excel maths skills to plan a wedding, record your calorie intake, or plan your finances.

Use Excel and Word together to send personalised invitations to people in your address book. Learn how to automatically print Christmas card labels from your Excel address book too, and how to make customised stories for the children and place settings for formal dinners.

Use PowerPoint to make a photo album slide show. You can control it by keyboard or let it play automatically, with special animated effects between the photos. You can use the same skills to create an advent calendar, run a quiz or turn your computer into a virtual art gallery.

Discover how you can use OneNote 2010 or OneNote 2007 (pictured) to create a recipe scrapbook. Create ingredients tables to go with your own recipes, and grab recipes from the internet. You can also use OneNote to organise your holiday research or keep a scrapbook for your hobby.

Learn how you can use the free Windows Live Mail program and a free Hotmail account to share your Office files with friends and colleagues. Includes guidance on registering for a free email account and installing the software.

The Microsoft Office projects are designed to teach you the key skills in using Microsoft Office, taking you from typing your first letter into Word, through to projects that truly unleash the power of your PC. Each project concludes with suggestions for new projects you can undertake using the skills learned in the chapter.

The book offers help for users of both Microsoft Office 2010 and Microsoft Office 2007. The few differences between the suites are clearly highlighted, and readers are alerted to any features that are only available in Office 2010. If you haven't upgraded since Office 2007 was released, there is a clear introduction to the new ribbon menu, and guidance throughout to help you navigate the new interface.

Whether you're a newcomer or someone who has already dabbled in Microsoft Office, this book will teach you new tricks that save you time and make your PC more powerful.

Microsoft Office 2010 (and 2007) for the Older and Wiser is written in a friendly and reassuring voice and is packed with relevant full-colour screenshots to guide you through the key stages. Each chapter concludes with a fun quiz to help recap the key points.

Download the MS Office demo files

You can download example Microsoft Office files created for the book, so that you can quickly get started with the projects. These files can be easily adapted to your own needs, using the guidance in the book, and can help you to learn Microsoft Office more quickly.

You can also see all the Microsoft Office related links from the book here.

Bonus content

• Speed up Microsoft Office and the rest of your computer using ReadyBoost
• How to compress picture file sizes in Microsoft PowerPoint presentations
• How to turn off predictive text (autocomplete/autocorrect) in Excel and Word
• Make an advent calendar on your computer using PowerPoint

Order your copy now!

This book is available in all good bookshops. You can also order online. Choose Amazon.co.uk if you're in the UK, and Amazon.com if you're in the US:

Related software

If you don't already have Microsoft Office, or want to check whether the version you have is suitable for use with this book, see my advice on buying Microsoft Office.

About the author

Microsoft Office 2010 (and 2007) for the Older and Wiser is written by Sean McManus, author of Social Networking for the Older and Wiser and Small Business Websites That Work. He's been using Microsoft Word since the 1980s and believes Office 2010 is the strongest Office suite yet. He has written widely for magazines including Internet Magazine, Personal Computer World, Internet Works and Business 2.0.

Related books by the same author

• Social Networking for the Older and Wiser
• iPad for the Older and Wiser: Get Up and Running Safely and Quickly with the Apple iPad